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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23392963">glue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_of_Camelot/pseuds/Nerd_of_Camelot'>Nerd_of_Camelot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DCU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A little angst, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson is a good bro, Dick Grayson-centric, Gen, No Romance, and a good surrogate uncle, and also probably needs therapy, and has anger issues, dick grayson is a badass, he loves them to pieces, raven has kids who consider dick their uncle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 16:09:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,214</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23392963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_of_Camelot/pseuds/Nerd_of_Camelot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time that Dick met Luke, the kid was barely two years old.</p>
<p>Seeing a little kid, especially a toddler, who in one way or another was going to look up to him in the future…</p>
<p>It had been sort of terrifying, frankly.</p>
<p>But ultimately? It settled him a little bit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson &amp; Original Character(s), Dick Grayson &amp; Raven, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson, Tim Drake &amp; Dick Grayson &amp; Jason Todd &amp; Bruce Wayne &amp; Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>98</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>glue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first time that Dick met Luke, the kid was barely two years old.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick was 25, at the time, tired and more surprised than he wanted to admit that the kid even existed, and always consumed with the bone-deep worry he had for his little brothers. Seeing a little kid, especially a </span>
  <em>
    <span>toddler,</span>
  </em>
  <span> who in one way or another was going to look up to him in the future…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been sort of terrifying, frankly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason and Tim were… Well. They’d been much closer to his age. There hadn’t been a whole lot of difference and they got along okay with him when he was around. He loved them to bits. And Damian… Well. He was a lot like Bruce, and as much as Dick had </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> of repressed anger regarding Bruce and their entire relationship he really </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> like the kid. But, again, there was an </span>
  <em>
    <span>age gap, </span>
  </em>
  <span>sure, but Damian was still… Well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Much, </span>
  <em>
    <span>much</span>
  </em>
  <span> closer to his age.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Damian was within fifteen years of his age. Tim was within </span>
  <em>
    <span>less,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Jason was within </span>
  <em>
    <span>even less than that.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke, though?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was 23 </span>
  <em>
    <span>entire years</span>
  </em>
  <span> younger than he was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>surreal.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it was terrifying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But ultimately? It settled him a little bit. Luke was a brilliant little kid, and he gave Dick a </span>
  <em>
    <span>real</span>
  </em>
  <span> reason to keep fighting the good fight and not lose himself to the anger he’d been bottling up his entire life. He gave Dick a reason to not go against everything he was taught and flip his shit in the worst way possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke wasn’t his kid, wasn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>related to him,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but one way or another he would look up to him and rely on him if he was around. He would need him even now that his brothers pretty much didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who’s his dad?” He asked Raven, anyway, while he sat (still a little dumbfounded, frankly) and studied the little bundle of joy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not sure?” She admitted, looking a little sheepish, “It was a rough day. I went home with somebody, and nine months later…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mm,” He nodded along. That made sense.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then Luke’s little luminous blue eyes turned to him, and the kid smiled with all of his little baby teeth. And Dick thought, for a second, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yeah. He’s a good reason to not lose my shit.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he redoubled his efforts to keep calm.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Dick and Raven introduced Tim to Luke a year later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tim thought, for half of a second that was clearly horrifying for him, that Luke was </span>
  <em>
    <span>theirs,</span>
  </em>
  <span> not just Raven’s. Raven quickly set the record straight, though, and little Luke was all too happy to exclaim that Dick was his uncle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or, well, his “Unca”.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And after that? Luke and Tim got along </span>
  <em>
    <span>famously.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Got along so well that without even being told that Tim and Dick were brothers, Luke was calling him “Unca Tim” by the time he and Raven left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It just reminded Dick again that he needed to be keeping himself together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For Luke, now that he didn’t need to stay together for Tim, Jason, and Damian.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Jason and Damian didn’t meet Luke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not, of course, because Raven didn’t want them to, or because they didn’t want to meet him. It was really more a matter of Raven and Dick living in Jump City pretty much full-time and introducing </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Luke being the last thing on their minds if they happened to end up with him in Gotham… If they even ended up </span>
  <em>
    <span>together</span>
  </em>
  <span> in Gotham, for that matter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick hung around as much as he could afford to, regardless, and they got frequent enough visits from Tim that Luke stayed pretty close to both of his Uncles. Close enough that they knew when he started exhibiting his powers at age five, and close enough that they were very well-aware when Raven ended up pregnant again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I ran into Luke’s dad,” She explained, off-handed and calm, “We recognized each other from that night, decided to go for a second one. He’s paying child support every month, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And if Raven was happy, Dick was happy, so he let it go and just told himself that another nibling was just the way to keep himself in check. Especially since the new one would be young enough to </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> rely on him as a role model even when Luke finally stopped needing him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Sophie came into the world a few months later as a little bundle of joy and shocking amounts of mental stability and clarity. Luke was about nine, by then, and fully aware of who and what this little bundle was. Dick saw the immediate flare of love and protectiveness that lit in the little boy’s eyes when he was handed his little sister. He saw the way that Luke doubled down on his training afterwards, and thought to himself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>whoops.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because Luke had almost certainly learned that from him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t know anyone else who would go out of their way to make themselves stronger for others. He didn’t know anyone else who </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to. Raven was about as strong as she was going to get, physically, and Tim rarely worried about needing to get any stronger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was just Dick and his constant need to protect his loved ones and take out his aggression while training so that it didn’t sneak up on him later.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Jason and Damian didn’t meet Sophie, either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Luke grew up protective and strong and determined to keep her out of harm’s way by any means necessary, and Dick saw a lot of himself in the kid. A lot more than he wanted to. A lot that he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>pretty</span>
  </em>
  <span> sure he’d accidentally taught the kid. And when he was thirteen he begged and pleaded to join up with the new division of the Teen Titans that Nightwing was putting together with Red Robin’s help.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Dick winced and thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>whoops</span>
  </em>
  <span> yet again, because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>saw himself in the kid where that was concerned. He was desperate to prove himself and desperate to find any way to make himself stronger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Raven eventually caved and by Luke’s fourteenth birthday, Void had come into existence and had debuted as a Titan. Even had his own hand-sewn suit, courtesy of Alfred, who had… Asked considerably less questions than Dick expected. Just asked for measurements and a general idea of what the owner of the suit might prefer in terms of design.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He seemed… Happy. And flattered, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Dick really loved giving Alfred a chance to use his skills. Lord knew he wasn’t making a whole lot of suits these days as Damian got ever-better at avoiding tearing his to shreds and Jason and Tim weren’t around enough to need his help with theirs. He figured having Luke’s to make would be something Alfred would have fun with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Luke had loved it, so at least both parties were happy with the whole deal.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Alfred ended up having a blast having to make a new suit once a year for Void―he hadn’t had an excuse to make alterations and entirely new suits while someone was growing in a while. Damian had stopped growing at 18, after all, and he hadn’t even made Void’s first costume until Damian was </span>
  <em>
    <span>twenty-five.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Luke </span>
  <em>
    <span>adored</span>
  </em>
  <span> each suit. Adored them to pieces.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He always sent his love to Alfred through Dick. And it was always well-received.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Dick was back in Gotham (rather permanently, really), back in Wayne Manor with his brothers and father, and honestly having a pretty great time with them. Now that they were all adults, they got along fairly well when they saw each other, and he hadn’t even gotten in a fight with Bruce yet. Neither had Jason. It was like some kind of miracle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>… He should have known it wasn’t going to last.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bruce came back into the room after taking a call with his face drawn into a concerned and unhappy frown. The mood in the room quickly switched to match. Damian’s previously open face turned into a mask of total blankness. Jason drew in on himself almost visibly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tim tucked himself a little further into his armchair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re going to have… Guests.” Bruce finally said, “For a few weeks. I’ve been made to understand that two of you are already well-acquainted with them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a general glance between all of them. Obvious attempts to list out and understand what exact people only </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> of them were well acquainted with.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick’s brain nagged at him, pressed, and reminded him that only he and Tim knew Sophie and Luke. He pushed the </span>
  <em>
    <span>incredibly</span>
  </em>
  <span> unpleasant thought out of his head. It couldn’t be the kids―Raven would have called him. She would have </span>
  <em>
    <span>asked</span>
  </em>
  <span> rather than just sending them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who?” Tim finally asked, brows furrowed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Under their expectant looks, Bruce didn’t even waver, just like he’d always reacted. But the fact that he was looking directly at Dick was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>promising.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lucas and Sophia Roth.” He answered, already sounding apologetic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick felt his stomach drop through his shoes. Saw Tim go white next to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d bet he’d turned white, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Damian and Jason, they― they just looked confused. Bless their fucking hearts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened?” He found himself asking, careful to keep the tenseness, the building anger and bone-deep </span>
  <em>
    <span>fear</span>
  </em>
  <span> out of his tone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t stop his fingers from curling in on the arm of his chair and making the fabric whine and start to tear under the pressure. He couldn’t stop that if he wanted to. If he tried to stop it, hide all outward markers of the things he was feeling, he’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>lose</span>
  </em>
  <span> it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was furious and </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrified.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure,” Bruce admitted, “Clark didn’t say much about the details. Hopefully Lucas can clear it up for us―I hear he’s the older of the two, and he was there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luke,” Dick corrected out of habit, voice tight now, “I― He’s seventeen. When is he…?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Soon,” Bruce said, just as the door on the other end of the room opened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In strode Alfred, with a casually-clothed Luke trailing a little behind him, staring around at the walls. He didn’t look hurt, thank </span>
  <em>
    <span>Christ,</span>
  </em>
  <span> but he had that little crease between his brows that said he was troubled and struggling not to let it affect his powers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke’s attention strayed to him, and Dick clearly saw the hitch in his breath. The way that he tensed, then relaxed. The horrible red-violet color of his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uncle Dick,” He said, voice cracking in that troubled, scared, </span>
  <em>
    <span>furious</span>
  </em>
  <span> way that it had a habit of doing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was in front of him in a second, and Dick was opening his arms before he even arrived. Luke didn’t so much crash into him as he tucked himself as closely as he could the moment he was within reach. His hands were tightly balled fists against Dick’s back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was as furious as Dick was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d scarcely parted before Tim was at their side and Luke was all but diving into a hug with him as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luke,” Dick managed to say once they’d parted, not sparing much thought to the hoarseness of his own voice, “What happened?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke crossed his arms protectively around his abdomen. “Some old-school baddie calling himself Doctor Light got into it with mom.” He said, voice deceptively calm and detached. But Dick knew him better than that. He could hear the underlying anger. “She’s in the hospital.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He reminded himself to stay calm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That Doctor Light was still around was troubling in and of itself. That he’d fought Raven and apparently </span>
  <em>
    <span>won</span>
  </em>
  <span> was worse. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>infuriating</span>
  </em>
  <span> and… Oh. Oooooh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stay calm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So they sent you here?” He asked, instead of addressing everything else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With an annoyed and rueful looking smile (more of a vague upward twitch of his lips and brows if you didn’t know what you were looking for), Luke said, “They seem to be operating under the assumption that having me here in Gotham with you will keep me from going after him. Or maybe that me being here will keep </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> from going after him.” A puff of air that held all the same rueful annoyance as his smile and some vague bitter amusement to boot, “Guess they don’t know you that well, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Guess not,” Dick managed to say with a quirk of his own brow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A half-second of silence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” He continued, “For now… Bruce, Damian, Jason, this is Luke. Raven’s son.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He headed up to his room to pack as soon as Sophie finally arrived and got settled in, a few hours later than Luke because she’d had to finish out the school day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke followed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sophie was with Tim, and Luke had been dealing alright on his own throughout the few hours he’d been here. Dick wasn’t surprised that he followed him, though. He was… Well. Saying Luke wasn’t a people person wasn’t fair. Luke just wasn’t great at the actual social part of social interaction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was, much like Raven, more of a sit in the same room and occasionally vaguely acknowledge you type than a talk to someone for several hours type… At least at first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They didn’t really talk while he started packing, either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Until finally, finally, Luke softly cleared his throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick just stayed silent to indicate he should go ahead with whatever he was thinking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... Jason and Damian,” Luke finally said, slowly, “They’re your brothers, yeah?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“In every way except blood,” Dick confirmed, “Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke was silent a moment, then, bitterly amused, “You couldn’t pay me to call Damian my uncle.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick suppressed a laugh at that, pressing his lips together but not managing to stop the amused puff of air that left him. He glanced over his shoulder at his nephew. “Got off on that much of a wrong foot, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke snorted derisively and pointedly continued to stare at an old poster on his wall when he replied, flatly, “Something like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick suppressed another laugh. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear me say,” He said, “But give him time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke groaned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When I met him,” He explained, for Luke’s benefit, “I wanted to </span>
  <em>
    <span>strangle</span>
  </em>
  <span> him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This time it was Luke who barely suppressed a laugh. “Get off on that much of a wrong foot?” He repeated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something like that,” Dick parrotted in response, “For real though? He’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he’s always </span>
  <em>
    <span>been</span>
  </em>
  <span> a shit. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Buuut,</span>
  </em>
  <span> if you give it time? Well, either you’ll get </span>
  <em>
    <span>used</span>
  </em>
  <span> to him being a shit, or he’ll decide not to be a shit anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke’s hum was unconvinced. Dick could only chuckle and roll his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was another silence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... You’re… Really going back to Jump, huh?” Luke finally asked, quieter than before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All due respect to the new Titans,” Dick replied, “They can’t take him. Raven was the only reason </span>
  <em>
    <span>our</span>
  </em>
  <span> teenage asses got rid of him, most of the time. It was either that or teaming up with every other teenage super we could get our hands on.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That Luke didn’t contest it told Dick a lot more than he wanted it to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Closing up his suitcase at last, he started to head for the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke stayed at his heels.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You gonna be okay if you end up here alone with Damian?” He asked, jokingly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stifling a snort, Luke said, “Worst case scenario I have to avoid and ignore him.” And after a brief pause during which he passed him on the way to the stairs, he tacked on, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“God</span>
  </em>
  <span> knows I got plenty of practice with that back at the Tower with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ethan.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I smell bad blood,” Dick pointed out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ha, yeah, no.” He could hear Luke’s eyes rolling, “I’m not telling you about that until </span>
  <em>
    <span>after</span>
  </em>
  <span> you come back and are too tired to do anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh???”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Christ,” Luke groaned, but he did sound a little amused, “One grudge match at a time, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Uncle Dick.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mm,” Dick hummed, following him down the stairs. “No promises.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the bottom of the stairs, the rest of the family had gathered. He’d guess they already knew he didn’t plan to sit around and let Doctor Light rampage while the only other adult super in Jump was in the hospital. Or they knew this was a grudge match. Even Sophie was waiting, uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luke took up a spot leaning against the banister of the stairs, and Sophie gravitated to his side instantly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dick went through his assorted goodbyes with the rest of the family, then drew Luke and Sophie into strong hugs that he hoped at least set them a little more at ease.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be back in a couple days,” He promised.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then he was out the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The fight with Doctor Light was… Less of a fight, more of a public mockery. Dick mopped the floor with him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Absolutely</span>
  </em>
  <span> mopped the floor with him. And only once he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure</span>
  </em>
  <span> that the doctor was going to be behind bars for at least the next couple weeks, he headed to Titan Tower to check in on the Titans who… Well. Hadn’t seemed to be doing much to stop Doctor Light.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they weren’t at all under orders by the League not to try.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, that wasn’t fair. Dragonbloom had been trying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of them, not so much, and there wasn’t much that Dragonbloom could do on his own except try to keep Doctor Light in the darker parts of the city.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>… But it wasn’t like he could fight a bunch of teenagers in good conscience. Even if one of them had clearly spawned some serious bad blood with Luke and they’d all sat and twiddled their thumbs while Doctor Light did his thing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason and Luke were sparring when Dick got back to the Manor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the closest thing to bonding he was going to get to see between them for a while, he knew. But at least it was happening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, strangely, he found Tim, Damian, and Sophie all curled up on one of the many couches asleep. Together, touching. Damian’s legs were thrown over Tim’s lap, and Sophie was curled into Tim’s side with one leg hooked over top of Damians, which </span>
  <em>
    <span>did not</span>
  </em>
  <span> look comfortable. Tim’s head laid against Sophie’s where hers was tucked up under his chin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was cute.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And, God, these guys were still his little brothers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And those two were his </span>
  <em>
    <span>niblings.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>… He really did need to keep fighting, huh?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It made him laugh, a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>How stupid could he be to think that Damian, Tim, and Jason didn’t need him just as much as Luke and Sophie did? They’d been messes when he’d finally come back to Gotham. Even Tim, who visited often. Even Damian, who would insist until he was blue in the face that he didn’t want or </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> Dick to be there for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all needed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fuck, even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bruce and Alfred </span>
  </em>
  <span>needed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was like the glue holding these guys together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they were the glue keeping him the same way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was kind of funny.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Staying alive and not flying off the handle for the people around you is a valid coping mechanism but also <em>maybe</em> don't do it the way that <del>I do</del> Dick does because that's not... really...... healthy<br/>At least have someone to talk to and actually talk to them about it instead of bottling up 20 years of trauma and using your brothers and niblings as a reason to keep doing it and not lose your shit completely over everything</p></blockquote></div></div>
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